1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of leaching mineral values from oil sand tailings of mine operations of oil sand or crushed ore, and more particularly to a method of continuous acid addition to the tailings and simultaneously allowing for the curing reaction to be carried out in the same step on a continuous basis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A method of curing and leaching the dry fines produced from mine tailings is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,008. The system of mixing acid with dry fines and then curing such in boxes, heaps or thin layers as described in said '008 Patent; procedures used in the copper and uranium industries in processing crushed ore such as removable heap leach methods; thin layer leaching as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,309; and cellular heap leaching as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,615 all involve a batch curing system and percolation leach techniques on a batch basis. These methods require use of large surface areas for the curing over a protracted period of time due to the required leach efficiencies. Thus, the required surface areas of storage are considerable. In cold climates, this drawback is enhanced.